Over the past week I listened to the audio books Blink and Freakanomics. I would recomnmend both although I think Freakanomics is more entertaining. Blink had interesting information about how people thin slice all the time and how they sometimes make mistakes. Freakanomics had lots of interesting stories and questions. My favorite question was "Why do drug dealers live with their mothers?". The answer is that they make $3.50 an hour and can't afford to live on their own unless they are high up in the organizational structure. Listening to all of these audiobooks got me thinking about another question? Do people in general absorb information from a book better if it is read to them in an audio book format or if they read it themselves? I suspect the answer is that it depends on the person and it depends on what they are doing when they listen to the audio book. If they give the same amount of attention to both it will most likely take more time to read a book than to have it read to them and they will thus have more time to absorb the information while reading it themselves. So for me I think I retain information better when I read it myself, but audio books (ripped onto an iPod) are quick and convenient and I think I still absorb the information pretty well.
Posted by troutm8 at June 17, 2007 11:55 PM